hilltop87
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Post by hilltop87 on Feb 13, 2020 16:40:34 GMT -5
Any fellow tennis players here? I started playing as a teen and still enjoy it today. I play more doubles than singles these days.
I remember getting a Wilson T-2000 racquet (I still have it) because Jimmy Connors was my favorite player.
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Post by LM on Feb 13, 2020 16:47:26 GMT -5
I played in high school. I wasn't the best player on the team but my coach said I had the best serve. I got significantly better when I started playing at college level. My son and I played until a couple of years ago when he hurt his back. Ironically, the last time we played was the only time he beat me.
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hilltop87
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Post by hilltop87 on Feb 13, 2020 16:52:41 GMT -5
Cool. I was playing in a doubles league. A great group of guys. It fell apart a few years ago due to attrition. I still play with a friend at his club.
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Post by rickyguitar on Feb 13, 2020 17:35:34 GMT -5
Played some in school, a long time ago. I actually have 2 unused Wilson racquets in 1 of the bedrooms. So yes and no.
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Post by Seldom Seen on Feb 13, 2020 17:40:22 GMT -5
I was a good player in my youth. My doubles partner and I placed 3rd in the state tournament after I posted a horrific set. It was tough to get over at the time. I played recreationally until twenty years ago. I'd love to take it up again but it's difficult to find players in my age group and decent places to play.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Feb 14, 2020 20:15:09 GMT -5
Ah, that takes me back to a wonderful, glorious world indeed.
I played on the same high school tennis team with Billy Martin, and later Pete Sampras and spent 15 years playing almost 3 or 4 hours a day in the hot California sun...my little heaven.
As I never took more than a couple of lessons, I would've lost to the above 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 to the above two, even if they were dead drunk !
But as noted above, my game, and especially my serve, improved dramatically after college for some reason, and I did make the Varsity team before I was kicked off for joining the swimming team.(shame on you tennis coach...I just built up my endurance and strength more !)
Anyway, I guess I was a passionate but late bloomer I suppose.
For college tennis season I broke my right hand playing football(stupid that !) and the next season I got mono bad, and that ended that.
Nevertheless, watching the classic players on TV and blasting various serves so they hit the fence tarp 6 feet high, executing powerful backhands down the line, executing the perfect drop shot or lob, and generally running around for 3 or 4 hours without any water or sunscreen was all my little heaven.
Of course it couldn't last. And in retrospect, I would now prefer I had put more of that energy into music, but I sure don't seem to have as many back issues as my peers. I don't seem to have any skin cancer either. Or lung cancer from all the smog I've breathed in.
But it was...a golden age to be young.
And nary a computer or cell phone !
Fancy that.
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hilltop87
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Post by hilltop87 on Feb 14, 2020 22:45:54 GMT -5
As I stated earlier Jimmy Connors was my tennis idol. I patterned my game after his (I am right handed though) and became the ultimate rec grinder. The thing I like the most about playing singles was the glory and the shame was all on me.
It is getting harder to find people who want to play. Last summer my buddy and I played two guys who play for the a community college. We took 2 out of 3 sets against those young punks.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Feb 15, 2020 5:51:22 GMT -5
Dang....you are stimulating my tennis PSTD ! I never could get used to the T-2000 and played with the blue aluminum HEAD. But that guy. That blasted guy. I think I forgot his name on purpose. He played a T-2000 on the high school varsity team and I couldn't get past him on the ladder. I could easily beat the 3 guys above him that he lost to routinely. But HIM ? He had my number. Not by a lot. Just by minimum points and sets needed every time I challenged ! Him and that danged T-2000. That was probably Fate trying to tell me to learn electric guitar. I shoulda listened And Fate later gave me a coach that kicked me off the team for deigning to swim, a broken hand the next season, and mono the next. Still didn't get the hint ! But like you, I loved tennis. I also learned to love squash, and I highly recommend that to tennis players. And then my fav, table tennis. I've won small tournaments left handed(broken hand remember), right handed, and after 5 years of struggle, got to be top dog in the area in my 50s. However, that was when I peaked. Now, alas, my racquet days are over with a chronic stress fracture in my foot. But I still have a dozen strung tennis racquets, 4 or 5 table tennis racquets and a couple of squash racquets. All headed to the thrift store soon. And occasionally, I'll see a pristine Kramer, a T-2000, a Chris Everett, or even an old Arthur Ashe Head in the thrift store. And some of the old wood rackets in pretty good shape. They must be pretty rare now. Collectible ? Not by me. At least not the T-2000. I coulda been the #4 on a hot tennis team if not for that one guy. But then, I'd have to play all the rich boys who started at age 6. Perhaps it was a mercy....
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Post by LM on Feb 15, 2020 6:36:19 GMT -5
My first good racket was a wooden oversized that I bought in '76. Prince maybe? It was white and a signature model but I can't recall from whom?
I switched to the Wilson T3000 but it was short-lived. Too sproingy! I then switched to the Pro Kennex Black Ace 90 graphite that I played for over a decade until it slipped outta my hand on a serve and shattered on the court. I bought a second that I still have in the garage.
About a decade ago, I picked up a Prince Triple Threat. It wasn't super-expensive but got good reviews.
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hilltop87
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Post by hilltop87 on Feb 15, 2020 7:27:07 GMT -5
For years I was Prince racquet player. About 6 years ago I switched to Volkl. I have a Volkl Classic Pro that I love.
Once in a while I will take out the old T-2000 to play a game or two with. Damn that head is small. It also provides zero cushion. A tennis elbow waiting to happen.
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Post by roly on Feb 15, 2020 7:41:12 GMT -5
I was once in love with a tennis player. She seemed to have no desire for love.
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Post by insanecooker on Feb 15, 2020 9:17:16 GMT -5
I played quite a bit throughout life. My previous coach went on leave and I moved cities so haven’t played in a year now, which bothers me.
I need to fix this.
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Post by LM on Feb 15, 2020 9:57:44 GMT -5
Here's a pic of me on the tennis team my senior year. I'm the tall one in the back just to the right of the basketball hoop holding my wooden racket. I remember now it was a Spalding Davis Cup.
Look at all of the T-2000's. lol!
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hilltop87
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Post by hilltop87 on Feb 15, 2020 10:33:55 GMT -5
That is an awesome picture. The tennis boom years. You had to drive or bike around to find an open court.
I started playing against a guy in my neighborhood who was 5 years older than me. He was a really good player as well. I told him from the get to show no mercy.
He routinely kicked my butt, but I was getting better and was starting to actually win some games. Then it happened. I finally beat him in a set 7-5.
I can still remember match point. I blew a backhand winner past him down the line. Then I did my best Jimmy Connors fist pump.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2020 10:40:28 GMT -5
I loved to play when I was younger but I don't think my knees or elbows could handle it today.
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hilltop87
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Post by hilltop87 on Feb 15, 2020 10:44:37 GMT -5
Playing singles is a real workout. Doubles is much better for the knees.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Feb 16, 2020 2:01:57 GMT -5
Man, this tennis thread sure brings back memories.
My favs are the couple months I play "beer tennis" with some old guy(age 27) that brought a couple of six packs he share with us eager high school kids. The damage to my timing was so unpleasant I never did get into drinking !
And playing in the fog. Once a year the fog would get so bad I had to pull the car over to the side of the road....IF....I could find it. One time I went right to the edge of a large gully and another time I ended up in the middle of the road instead of to the side ! Both times I couldn't see more than 3 to six feet in front of the car.
And the fog would hit the tennis courts so bad that me and my partner couldn't see each other at times. This became a lot of fun trying to "listen" for the ball and put lobs into fog blobs so my partner never knew what was coming ! This would amuse us greatly for the 20 minutes or so it lasted.
Other times we'd have a steady wind from the side that was strong enough to force us to serve underhanded. Since you'd generally have to be addicted to tennis(which we were !) the courts on either side were open. This was a good thing because once the serve was in, we had to retreat to the downwind court because we'd both have a blast lobbing the return high enough over the upwind court to pass over it and back into our court, which we would return from the downwind court ! This also amused us greatly.
But the weirdest day I remember was some guy and I were practicing short cross court angles shots on a clear 80 degree day and suddenly the sky opened up and at least a half an inch of rain fell down ! We were drenched head to toe. Balls were wet, towels were wet, our bags were wet. By the time we got to the cars, the rain ended, and it was 80 degrees again. If there was a cloud up there, I didn't see it. It could have been high above the smog of course. Naturally, we returned to the court and had fun trying to play with wet clothes, shoes and balls and we learned to play with barely bouncing wet balls...up to a point. We then learned that topspin creates a rotating wheel of water around each ball and that hitting a wet ball tends to introduce a fine spray of dirty water all over one's face. Suffice it to say, by the time the water had dried, our racquets, clothes and faces and hair were streaked with dirt and mud. But we had fun that day !
I have to wonder about not seeing a cloud though, for the sky was generally clear that day. Those courts were about 5 miles from the airport and I wonder if some pilot with a sense of humor didn't drop a bunch of water on us as a joke.
Not a bad joke either ~
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Post by Ragtop on Feb 16, 2020 6:34:53 GMT -5
I was a big tennis fan back during the Jimmy Connors/Bjorn Borg days. I'd get up early on Sunday to watch the Wimbledom finals. Played quite a bit too, had to teach my buddies to play so that I would have someone to play with. I couldn't stand McEnroe, still can't, and life got busy and I didn't play anymore.
I had a huge crush on Chrissie Evert. Then I ran into her at the baggage claim at Heathrow and got to talk to her for a few minutes. She was very nice, and looked even better in person than she did on TV. Big thrill for me.
Hey, LeftyMeister, is that team photo taken in Omaha?
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Post by LM on Feb 16, 2020 8:30:36 GMT -5
Ragtop, it was Thomas Jefferson in Council Bluffs.
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Post by Ragtop on Feb 16, 2020 10:45:29 GMT -5
Ragtop, it was Thomas Jefferson in Council Bluffs.
Ah, yes, the Bluffs. The town where I learned to drink beer during my 17th summer.
Best guitar shop in the area is there now, Lidgett's Music.
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Tequila Rob
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Post by Tequila Rob on Feb 16, 2020 10:52:29 GMT -5
Count me as a huge fan..especially if there is female grunting involved...
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Post by Rick Knight on Feb 17, 2020 8:34:18 GMT -5
In my 20s, the only guy with training at our small town public court liked to play against me because I could give him some degree of competition - until I tore up my knee. Lateral movement and my game were never the same.
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stl80
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Post by stl80 on Feb 17, 2020 9:53:13 GMT -5
"Wouldn't that be nice?" Eric. Jim
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